Flora of North America species comparison

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Ceanothus lemmonii

Ceanothus jepsonii

Lemmon's ceanothus

Jepson ceanothus, Jepson's ceanothus, musk brush
Habit Shrubs, evergreen, 0.5–1 m. Stems ascending to spreading, not rooting at nodes; branchlets pale green to grayish green and glaucous, not thorn-tipped, round in cross section, flexible to ± rigid, sparsely villosulous. Shrubs, 0.5–1.5 m. Stems erect to ascending, not rooting at nodes; branchlets reddish to grayish brown, rigid, puberulent, glabrescent.
Leaves

petiole 2–6 mm;

blade flat, narrowly elliptic to oblong-elliptic, 13–35 × 6–15 mm, base cuneate to rounded, margins serrulate to denticulate most of length, not revolute, not wavy, teeth 34–45, apex acute to obtuse, abaxial surface pale green to grayish green and glaucous, villosulous, especially on veins, adaxial surface green, strigillose; pinnately veined or weakly 3-veined from base.

not fascicled, deflexed;

petiole 0–2 mm;

blade ± cupped, slightly folded lengthwise adaxially, elliptic to ± oblong, 10–20 × 5–13 mm, base rounded, margins thick or slightly revolute, spinose-dentate, teeth 7–11, apex rounded or sharply acute, abaxial surface pale yellowish green, glabrous, adaxial surface pale green, glabrous.
Inflorescences

axillary or terminal, umbel-like to racemelike, 2–6.5 cm.

axillary or terminal, 1–2 cm.
Flowers

sepals, petals, and nectary pale to deep blue.

sepals and petals (5–)6(–8), usually blue to lavender or white, rarely pink;

nectary blue;

stamens (5–)6(–8).
Capsules

3–4 mm wide, lobed near apex;

valves smooth, crested.

5–7 mm wide, lobed;

valves rugose, horns subapical, prominent, thick, erect, rugose, intermediate ridges present.
2n

= 24.

Ceanothus lemmonii

Ceanothus jepsonii
Phenology Flowering Apr–May.
Habitat Rocky slopes and flats, open sites, conifer forests, oak and pine woodlands.
Elevation 200–1300 m. (700–4300 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Ceanothus lemmonii occurs in the inner North Coast Ranges, Klamath Mountains, and the western slope of the Cascade Range and northern Sierra Nevada. H. McMinn (1944) reported putative hybrids with C. foliosus, C. integerrimus, and C. oliganthus var. sorediatus.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

Ceanothus jepsonii, composed of two, allopatric varieties, is the only species with mostly six (rarely eight) sepals and petals, and cymules reduced to solitary flowers (M. A. Nobs 1963). T. M. Hardig et al. (2000) provided evidence showing that the two varieties may not form a monophyletic group. H. McMinn (1942) and Nobs (1963) reported putative hybrids with C. cuneatus and C. prostratus.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Sepals and petals usually pale blue to lavender, rarely pink or white; capsules globose.
var. jepsonii
1. Sepals and petals white; capsules ± oblong.
var. albiflorus
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 94. FNA vol. 12, p. 106.
Parent taxa Rhamnaceae > Ceanothus > subg. Ceanothus Rhamnaceae > Ceanothus > subg. Cerastes
Sibling taxa
C. americanus, C. arboreus, C. arcuatus, C. confusus, C. cordulatus, C. crassifolius, C. cuneatus, C. cyaneus, C. dentatus, C. divergens, C. diversifolius, C. fendleri, C. ferrisiae, C. foliosus, C. fresnensis, C. gloriosus, C. griseus, C. hearstiorum, C. herbaceus, C. impressus, C. incanus, C. integerrimus, C. jepsonii, C. leucodermis, C. maritimus, C. martini, C. masonii, C. megacarpus, C. microphyllus, C. oliganthus, C. ophiochilus, C. otayensis, C. palmeri, C. papillosus, C. parryi, C. parvifolius, C. pauciflorus, C. perplexans, C. pinetorum, C. prostratus, C. pumilus, C. purpureus, C. roderickii, C. sanguineus, C. sonomensis, C. spinosus, C. thyrsiflorus, C. tomentosus, C. velutinus, C. verrucosus
C. americanus, C. arboreus, C. arcuatus, C. confusus, C. cordulatus, C. crassifolius, C. cuneatus, C. cyaneus, C. dentatus, C. divergens, C. diversifolius, C. fendleri, C. ferrisiae, C. foliosus, C. fresnensis, C. gloriosus, C. griseus, C. hearstiorum, C. herbaceus, C. impressus, C. incanus, C. integerrimus, C. lemmonii, C. leucodermis, C. maritimus, C. martini, C. masonii, C. megacarpus, C. microphyllus, C. oliganthus, C. ophiochilus, C. otayensis, C. palmeri, C. papillosus, C. parryi, C. parvifolius, C. pauciflorus, C. perplexans, C. pinetorum, C. prostratus, C. pumilus, C. purpureus, C. roderickii, C. sanguineus, C. sonomensis, C. spinosus, C. thyrsiflorus, C. tomentosus, C. velutinus, C. verrucosus
Subordinate taxa
C. jepsonii var. albiflorus, C. jepsonii var. jepsonii
Name authority Parry: Proc. Davenport Acad. Nat. Sci. 5: 192. (1889) — (as lemmoni) Greene: Man. Bot. San Francisco, 78. (1894)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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